Saturday, December 5, 2009

Bike lust. Moots Snowbike

If you live in the Edmonton area and just happened to look outside today you would notice there`s snow , and lots of it . I had planned on going for a ride today but after shoveling my driveway to get out I realized riding bikes today just wouldn`t be much fun . In previous years I set off in or after a big snowdump and turned away largely in part due to control problems . Riding in the snow is great if you have wider tires (preferably studded) There are tires and rims you can get for a conventional mountainbike that are wider and more apt for winter riding .

In this case though , you have a bike that is custom built for winter riding , based on my hardtail Rigormootis frame (oh I`m so proud) .........I am really ! The rear triangle is obviously built to accommodate the large rear tire , and it comes with a custom front fork as well .

cha ching ! this smells expensive

Everything on this bike is hand built out of titanium in steamboat Colorado , the custom frame , seatpost , stem , handlebar , and custom fork . This bike pictured features a custom paint job on the rims and fork crown done by a Steamboat artist , ya know , to keep things local . The paint job took over 120 hours to do and features the world famous Moots alligator . (can you count how many times I said custom today ?)

The wheels are interchangeable so if you run into drivetrain problems in the middle of Nunuvik all you have to do is swap them . The weight of this snow beast is a respectable 31 pounds . Which isn`t bad considering the size of those wheels . There are much more affordable winter offerings from the bike Gods , but me having a special place in my heart for Moots I had to put this one up here . The price of this bike complete would probably buy you a small African country so start saving your pennies kids.